By Pesi Fonua

“Thumbs up, and mission accomplished,” declared Lt. Col. Josh Wineera at a gathering at Lea-‘a e-Tohi Ground, Pangai, Ha’apai on Saturday, 23 July, to commemorate the completion of the Tropic Twilight 16 humanitarian program.

The program funded by the New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, brought to Ha'apai a multinational task group, led by the New Zealand Defence Force.

Tropic Twilight 16 is the second such operation in the Pacific, the first was held in the Cook Islands last year. Lt. Col. Wineera said that there was still work to be done in Ha'apai and hinted that there could be a "Tropic Twilight Plus". Ha'apai communities suffered heavy damage during Tropical Cyclone Ian in 2014.

New Zealand made up a majority of the visiting group with 40 personnel from the NZ army and the Royal NZ Air Force. They were assisted by military personnel from Australia, China, USA, the United Kingdom and Tonga's HMAF. The French government was also involved by providing the aircraft to transfer diplomats and guests to the celebration to mark the success of the three weeks program.

Water storage facilities

Tropic Twilight 16 started on 7 July and focused on trying to improve the water storage facility for public consumption in the two central islands of the Ha’apai group of islands, Lifuka and Foa.

The multinational task group, from five countries installed nine 10,000-litre water tanks at a church and a community hall with public access. Water tanks were also installed at the fire and police station at Pangai.

The group also constructed a toilet block near the Pangai Ferry Terminal and another toilet for the HMAF.

Soldiers from the multinational group also offered helping hands in medical training, environmental health training and dental awareness.

The people of Lifuka and Lotofoa were very appreciative of the assistance, and they were all out in a two days celebration, the day before at Faleloa, Lotofoa, and on the second day, 23 July at Pangai, Lifuka.

While Tropic Twilight 16 addressed a need for better water storage and sanitation in Lifuka and Foa, but it was obvious that Ha’apai is still struggling to recover from the devastating impact of Cyclone Ian in January 2014. Some of the new so-called tiny “hurricane houses” appeared either uninhabited or under repair.